Fill-in Paige Vigliotta kicks in winner for Sutton

There’s no disputing that depth does wonders in team sports, and the Sutton girls’ soccer team will undoubtedly vouch for that. When standout Cierra Dubinsky went down with an injury in yesterday’s Central Mass. Division 3 final against Bromfield, Sutton turned to her replacement, Paige Vigliotta, and the freshman delivered, scoring the game’s lone goal to boost her team to a 1-0 win at Grafton High.

There’s no disputing that depth does wonders in team sports, and the Sutton girls’ soccer team will undoubtedly vouch for that.

When standout Cierra Dubinsky went down with an injury in yesterday’s Central Mass. Division 3 final against Bromfield, Sutton turned to her replacement, Paige Vigliotta, and the freshman delivered, scoring the game’s lone goal to boost her team to a 1-0 win at Grafton High.

Second-seeded Sutton, which last won the Central Mass. championship in 2010, plays the winner of today’s Lenox-Gateway game in a state semifinal at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Westfield State.

The Suzies finished their Central Mass. slate with a 17-3-1 record. That includes a 4-0 run in the postseason. Sutton outscored its opponents, 13-0, during that stretch.

“I’ve been on championship teams before, but it feels more special this year because I’m a senior, and I want to go out with a bang,” captain Elaina Falcone said. “We were a little uptight in the beginning. After halftime, we started believing in ourselves, knowing we could bring it home and picked up our intensity. The ball was in their end a lot — we kept pushing until we put it in.”

“What makes Sutton go is we have a lot of soccer spirit — all of us start playing around age five and all we look forward to is playing for the high school team,” senior captain Sarah Kane said. “We have such a reputation in this town and we all play with determination to keep the titles going and bring the trophies in. This is my third district title. Winning this year is definitely the greatest feeling — it’s the last hurrah.”

The Suzies had numerous scoring opportunities in the first half and many more to start the second. Several minutes after replacing Dubinsky, Vigliotta doused the drought when she found the back of the Trojans’ net at 27:57. Junior midfielder Brianna Watson had the assist.

“On turf, the ball can go in any direction and can flip around,” Vigliotta said. “I just saw someone kick it right over their head and it rolled off my foot like I had just touched it. It spiraled by the goalie’s hands right next to the post and went into the back of the net.”

“First half, I wasn’t up to my game, second half I knew I had to step it up,” Vigliotta said. “Then, unfortunately, our senior (Dubinsky) got hurt and they put me in. Cierra is a phenomenal player. So it was an amazing experience for me because I’m just a freshman. Something I’ll remember the rest of my life.”

“First half, it felt like there was a cover on the net, but second half, we settled down and started connecting passes,” Sutton coach David Payne said. “That’s the way it’s been with us. We’ve had trouble finding that first goal. We played a lot more composed soccer in the second half. And then our freshman comes in and plays a great game.”

Fourth-seeded Bromfield (12-3-5) was on the defensive for most of the game and was out-shot in each half.